"Fellow Daoist Qin might be young, but you're more cautious than a seasoned veteran of the martial world. To make my act convincing, I went so far as damaging my sea of qi and sealing my spiritual power, yet I still failed to fool your eyes. You're far sharper than that fool."
Baiyun Shanren glanced at Wu Yuesheng lying in a pool of blood, his face full of disdain. Qin Sang cast a sidelong glance, his expression unchanged, offering no comment on the old man's words.
The instant the upheaval had occurred, he had already recalled the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword.
Now shrouded within the five-colored sword qi, Qin Sang spoke in an unreadable tone, "Fellow Daoist Baiyun truly knows how to pick a venue. To launch your ambush at a time like this—aren't you afraid of being entangled by the baleful corpse and perishing here alongside us?"
Baiyun Shanren chuckled softly, making no effort to hide the greed gleaming in his eyes. He looked at Qin Sang and said, "It is merely a mindless dead thing. This place is a rare, ideal haven for destroying corpses and erasing all traces... Both of you hail from prestigious sects. Once this old man claims your treasures, why would I fear that brainless brute?"
Before his voice had even faded, Baiyun Shanren's originally benevolent, gentle countenance twisted into something utterly sinister. Raising a hand, he pointed at Qin Sang. With a sharp whoosh, the Sky-Trapping Pouch shot forward. The wind array swept the baleful corpse along, shifting several zhang in the blink of an eye. It seemed this was the true power of the Sky-Trapping Pouch; the wind array was not at all fragile and tottering as it had appeared before.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, why don't you have some fun with the baleful corpse first!"
Baiyun Shanren sneered. With a stir of his intent, the Sky-Trapping Pouch shuddered violently. Facing Qin Sang's direction, an opening abruptly split in the wind array, and the baleful corpse broke free once more.
Meanwhile, the mouth of the Sky-Trapping Pouch shifted, aiming straight at Qin Sang from afar.
Although the baleful corpse had developed some intelligence, it was far from cunning. The moment it escaped captivity, it would instinctively attack the first enemy it spotted. That was precisely how Baiyun Shanren had manipulated the corpse to ambush Wu Yuesheng, succeeding in a single stroke.
In Baiyun Shanren's eyes, once Qin Sang was tied down by the baleful corpse, he would only need to avoid drawing the creature's attention and use the Sky-Trapping Pouch to trip Qin Sang up a few times to easily reap the spoils of victory.
Unexpectedly, the situation did not unfold as he had envisioned.
The moment the Sky-Trapping Pouch made its move, Qin Sang flew out from the protection of the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword on his own, darting with astonishing speed in an unforeseen direction. Rather than seizing the initiative to counterattack Baiyun Shanren, his target was actually the skeletal remains in the corner of the hall.
Qin Sang did not believe a word of Baiyun Shanren's nonsense. As a rogue cultivator, for Baiyun Shanren to have survived to this day, broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and made a name for himself, he had to be an exceptionally shrewd individual.
Unless absolute success was guaranteed or immense profit lay directly before him, he would never be tempted to plot against two Foundation Establishment cultivators from Shaohua Mountain.
Baiyun Shanren did not even know what treasures the two of them carried. That uncertainty was far from enough to make him take such a reckless gamble, for failure meant irrevocable doom.
In that case, the only thing in the hall truly worthy of his greed was the skeleton in the corner. The silver ancient Heavenly Corpse Sect medallion, the black pouch, and the cracked iron stake appeared unremarkable at first glance, but at least one of them had to be an extraordinary item.
Earlier, when the four of them had gathered to analyze the situation, only Baiyun Shanren possessed any knowledge of the Heavenly Corpse Sect. In hindsight, he had definitely concealed a great deal back then; the ancient records concerning the Heavenly Corpse Sect could never have been as sparse as he had claimed.
Seeing Qin Sang's sudden dash, Baiyun Shanren's expression shifted slightly. Realizing Qin Sang had seen through his motives, he was caught off guard, yet not overly flustered. He immediately directed the Sky-Trapping Pouch to cut off Qin Sang's path.
At the same time, dropping all pretense, he executed a movement technique and charged toward the skeleton as well.
To keep from arousing Qin Sang's and Wu Yuesheng's suspicions, he had concealed his interest in the skeleton all along, yet he had still been edging closer intentionally or unintentionally. At this moment, he was much closer to the remains than Qin Sang was.
Yet just then, a shocking scene unfolded before Baiyun Shanren's eyes.
After bursting out of the wind array, the baleful corpse paid no attention to Qin Sang directly ahead of it. Instead, it spun around abruptly, its murderous, blood-red eyes fixing squarely on Baiyun Shanren, and vanished from the spot in the next instant!
Baiyun Shanren's heart skipped a beat, and his face drained of color. He had no idea why the baleful corpse would act so aberrantly, but time did not permit him to ponder the reason.
The corpse's evasion technique was uncanny, its speed far outstripping his own movement technique.
Though Baiyun Shanren was confident he could suppress the creature, he did not dare let it get close. Aside from the Sky-Trapping Pouch, his other subpar defensive magic tools were utterly inadequate. Left with no choice, he had to abandon his attempt to intercept Qin Sang and hurriedly recalled the Sky-Trapping Pouch.
Bang!
With a dull crash, the baleful corpse arrived in an instant, its ghostly silhouette materializing beside Baiyun Shanren.
The Sky-Trapping Pouch flew back just in the nick of time, intercepting the sneak attack.
Even so, Baiyun Shanren could not escape the brunt of the immense impact. His body jolted violently and his speed plummeted. He hurriedly turned to look at Qin Sang, only to find that Qin Sang seemed entirely oblivious to the corpse's bizarre turn, not even glancing back as he sprinted toward the skeleton, seemingly on the verge of pocketing the treasures.
At this sight, every shred of composure vanished from Baiyun Shanren's heart. Overcome with frantic urgency, he pulled out his wooden staff magic tool and hurled it viciously at Qin Sang's back. At the same time, he condensed his spiritual power into a giant hand to seize the skeleton and the treasures, seeking to disrupt Qin Sang's advance.
In his flustered scramble, Baiyun Shanren failed to notice that while he desperately contested the treasures, an illusory figure was quietly taking shape behind him—it was another Qin Sang!
Qin Sang held two items in his hands: one was the Essence-Devouring Awl, and the other was a Profound Yin Thunder!
Having clashed with the baleful corpse for so many rounds, Qin Sang had long since figured out its nature.
What guided the creature's actions and targets was never what its eyes saw, but aura. Stemming from its primal instincts, nothing provoked its slaughterous urge more than the vital essence of living beings!
Under the cover of the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword, Qin Sang had quietly used the Cloudfall Wings and the Spirit Concealment Art to mask his presence. While he could not fool the corpse's senses indefinitely, all he needed was to divert its target.
With the far more conspicuous Baiyun Shanren positioned behind him, it was obvious which of the two the baleful corpse would choose.
As for the other 'Qin Sang,' it was nothing more than an avatar created using the Phantom Shift spell.
Under normal circumstances, such a simple diversion could never have deceived Baiyun Shanren. But in the midst of this sudden chaos, while under attack by the baleful corpse and consumed by lust for the ancient treasures, the old man had been too pressed by panic to look closely.
Bang!
The wooden staff magic tool struck the avatar squarely in the back, shattering it instantly. At the same time, the giant hand of spiritual power met no resistance whatsoever, closing around the treasures.
Yet upon seeing this, not a trace of joy surfaced on Baiyun Shanren's face. Instead, intense horror and dread washed over him, and he whipped around in terror!
Boom!
The Essence-Devouring Awl detonated.
A dense, dazzling blue light flooded Baiyun Shanren's vision.
Water elemental power, violent to the extreme, surged like a crashing tidal wave and swallowed him whole.
Chapter 168